Jodi Magness

Dr. Jodi Magness (www.jodimagness.org) holds the endowed chair of the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the Religious Studies department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is currently the sitting president of the Archaeological Institute of America. She received her B.A. in archaeology and history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1977) and her Ph.D. in classical archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania (1989). From 1990–1992, Magness was a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in Syro-Palestinian archaeology at the Center for Old World Archaeology and Art at Brown University.

During the course of her career, Professor Magness has participated on 20 different excavations in Israel and Greece, including codirecting the 1995 excavations in the Roman siege works at Masada. From 2003–2007 she codirected excavations in the late Roman fort at Yotvata, Israel, and since 2011 she has directed an excavation project at Huqoq in Galilee. Dr. Magness is a member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Program Committee of the Society of Biblical Literature. She has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem (and past Vice-President), the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Board of Trustees of the American Schools of Oriental Research. She served as President of the North Carolina Society of the AIA and the Boston Society of the AIA.

Presenter at

Bible & Archaeology Fest XX, November 17 – 19, 2017 (Plenary Speaker)Good God(s)! Modern India as a Window into Ancient Judaism and the Roman World

Although today many westerners think of our shared heritage as "Judeo-Christian," culturally the world of Jesus was as far removed from ours as the Earth is from Mars. In this slide-illustrated lecture, we use modern India as a lens through which to understand certain aspects of ancient Judaism such as the concepts of ritual purity, monotheism versus polytheism, and temple worship.

Seminar at Sea, January 31 – February 7, 2016Early Judaism and the Rise of the Synagogue

According to the New Testament, Jesus and Paul preached in synagogues. What did these synagogues look like? Where and when did synagogues originate? How did the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. impact the development of synagogues? In this seminar we explore the rise and spread of synagogues within their larger Jewish context, up to the sixth-seventh centuries. By the Late Roman period, many of these buildings were decorated with figured images and biblical scenes. We discuss the possible meanings of these images, including the surprising depiction of the Greco-Roman sun god Helios surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, which appears in several synagogues.

Bible & Archaeology Fest XVII, November 21 - 23, 2014Samson in Stone: New Discoveries in the Ancient Village and Synagogue at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee

Since 2011, Professor Jodi Magness has been directing excavations in the ancient village of Huqoq in Israel's Galilee. The excavations have brought to light the remains of a monumental Late Roman (fifth century) synagogue building that is paved with stunning and unique mosaics, including depictions of the biblical hero Samson. In this slide-illustrated lecture, Professor Magness describes these exciting finds, including the discoveries made in the summer 2014 season.

This slide-illustrated lecture surveys the finds from the 2011-2012 excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee, an ancient (Roman-Byzantine period) Jewish village with the remains of a monumental synagogue building. Excavations in June 2012 revealed that the synagogue was decorated with a stunning mosaic floor that includes a scene depicting the episode related in Judges 15:4 (Samson and the foxes).

ASOR/BAS Seminar on Biblical Archaeology, October 5 - 7, 2012The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947-48, the first Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in caves near Qumran. Eventually, the remains of over 900 different scrolls were found in 11 caves. These scrolls date to about the time of Jesus, and include the earliest copies we have of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The scrolls were deposited in the caves by members of a Jewish sect who lived at Qumran. In this slide-illustrated lecture, we examine the archaeological remains at Qumran and the information from the scrolls to learn about the lifestyle and beliefs of this sect.

Ossuaries and the Burials of Jesus and James
In November 2002, the media announced that a small stone box (ossuary) had come to light that bore and inscription that read “Joseph brother of Jesus.” Did this ossuary contain the remains of James the Just, the brother of Jesus? In this slide-illustrated lecture, we survey ancient Jerusalem’s tombs, and then discuss what we know about how Jesus and his brother James were buried.

Bible & Archaeology Fest XIV, November 18 - 20, 2011Roman Jerusalem: Hadrian’s Aelia Capitolina
Some sixty years after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., it was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian as a pagan Roman city called the “Aelia Capitolina.” Much of the current plan and layout of the Old City goes back to Hadrian’s dramatic re-fashioning of ancient Jerusalem. This slide-illustrated lecture reviews the archaeological evidence for the Aelia Capitolina, including new discoveries that recent excavations have brought to light.

Bible & Archaeology Fest XIII, November 19 - 21, 2010Masada: Last Stronghold of the Jewish Resistance against Rome
In the first century B.C.E., Herod the Great built a fortified desert palace atop the remote mountain of Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea. Sixty years after Herod’s death, the mountain was occupied by a band of Jewish rebels at the time of the First Jewish Revolt against Rome. Masada was the last fortress in Jewish hands to fall to the Romans (73 or 74 C.E.). In this slide-illustrated lecture, we review the history and archaeology of Masada, focusing especially on information from excavations that Professor Magness co-directed in the Roman siege camps in 1995.